


Nothing To Be Ashamed Of

by scarletmanuka



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 20:42:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8504704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletmanuka/pseuds/scarletmanuka
Summary: Mycroft meets Greg's daughters for the first time. He discovers something unexpected about his partner and tries to make him understand there's nothing to be ashamed of.





	

With a churning stomach, Mycroft climbed the stairs to the fourth floor flat. This was ridiculous – why was he so nervous? He could prevent international incidents with a well-rounded argument, shut down an unruly ambassador with a glare, and chastise the PM for being childish. All of those scenarios could be described as being worthy of a few butterflies in the stomach, but this? Meeting his partner’s children for the first time should be a walk in the park. There was absolutely no reason whatsoever that he should be feeling sick. The desire to flee for his life was completely nonsensical. Taking on an entire terrorist cell one handed should not be more appealing.

He reached the top of the stairs and paused to get himself together. Gregory’s daughters were just small girls – 6 and 8, and even if he couldn’t find anything to relate to them about, it shouldn’t matter overly much. They wouldn’t be interested in a stodgy old man like himself. They’d most likely say hello and then continue on with their own activities without paying him any mind. What could possibly go wrong?

He just hoped that even if they found him boring and dull, they’d not actually dislike him. He didn’t want to put Gregory in such an uncomfortable situation. Because they lived up in Manchester with their mother, Gregory only got to have them one weekend a month, plus half of the school holidays. He’d spoken of his enthusiasm of being able to spend time with both Mycroft and his daughters so they could get to know the man who was now such an important part of his life. The politician had to admit that he saw the appeal – they had been together for six months and apart from one time when he was out of the country, the other times that the girls had been to visit, he had very much missed his partner’s presence. He didn’t want to crowd Gregory, or monopolise his time, but if his company was desired, he’d much rather spend that time with the older man, even if it was during his family time.

After an embarrassingly long time, he gathered his wits and knocked on the door to the flat. There was a squeal of young female voices and he heard the thundering of feet before the door was yanked open. He looked down (and then down some more because he had no idea little girls were so small, unless he was just overly tall…) and tried to comprehend what he saw before him.

Clones. They were tiny, female clones of his beloved. Warm, chocolate brown eyes; curly brown hair that he recognised from photos of a young Gregory; the same shape to the jaw and chin; the exact replica of the eye crinkle when they smiled. Which they were doing. Broadly.

“Hi! Are you our daddy’s boyfriend? He said you were coming round and that we were going to get to meet you, even though Mummy wasn’t very happy about that, and she called Daddy a bad word, but Daddy said that he loved you and that you were going to be part of lives for a really long time so she could be mad if she wanted but it wouldn’t make any difference at all and that’s okay with me and Abby because we both like making new friends and you look really nice which is good because Daddy needs someone nice to take care of him because he’s always by himself and I think he used to get lonely but he’s always happy now when we talk to him on the phone and he talks about you a lot so  _ I  _  think it’s you that makes him happy which means that I like you already and so does Abby –“

“Nessie, can you at least let Myc in the door before you talk his head off?” Gregory had appeared behind the girls, a tea towel thrown over his shoulder and an apologetic look on his face. He stepped between the two girls and gave him a quick kiss. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

Mycroft was aware he must look like a deer caught in the proverbial headlights. He tried to smile, but it must have looked dazed because now he was being guided inside and led to the lounge where he sank onto the couch. The two girls had followed happily, and jumped up to sit on the couch next to him, their smiles not fading at all.

“Okay, official introductions. Mycroft, this little chatterbox is Vanessa, and the quieter one is Abigail. Don’t let her silence fool you though – as soon as her shyness wears off, she’ll talk your ear off just as much as her older sister does.”

“It’s very nice to meet you both,” he replied once he’d finally found his voice again.

“Do you live nearby? Do you have a car? Is it pretty? Or did you catch the train here? We get to come here on the train  _ by ourselves _ because I’m old enough to look after Abby but they usually have someone who makes sure we get on and off at the right place and-”

Greg had clamped his hand over her mouth and she continued to talk into it for a few moments until she realised no one could understand her mumbles. “How about Myc and I go and make some lunch to give him some time to get over the shock of meeting you two?”

Nessie nodded, and pulled her dad’s hand away from her mouth. “Can we watch a DVD?”

“Sure. Let Abby pick this time though since you chose the last one.”

Greg clasped his hand with Mycroft’s and pulled him up from the couch and they headed into the kitchen. Once they were alone he wrapped his arms around his partner’s waist and pressed a deeper kiss to his lips. “Sorry, I should have warned you about how mental they are. I forget they can be a bit overwhelming the first time you meet them.”

“It’s fine, Gregory. You know how I am – I’m not comfortable in company at the best of times, but they seem very sweet so I’m sure we’ll get along fine.”

“If you don’t run for hills?”

He managed a smile. “Is it that obvious?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t do a runner the minute Nessie opened her mouth.” He kissed him again and then moved to the fridge and pulled out some cheese and salad. “Can you grab the bread?”

Retrieving the loaf, Mycroft watched as Greg started to cut ingredients for sandwiches, gladly starting to butter slices of bread to be of some help. “Was it true, what Vanessa said about Tonia? Did she really object to the girls meeting me?”

Greg’s face darkened as he scowled. “Yeah, she caused a fuss, but I sorted it. She has no right to dictate who I see or feel it appropriate to introduce the girls to. Honestly, she has a bloody nerve even trying it.”

“You don’t think she has every right to be concerned?”

“Not at all. The girls have friends at school who have two mums or two dads so me telling them I was dating a bloke is nothing new for them. And it’s not like we’ve only just started seeing each other – it’s been half a year. The fact that that bitch would bring men to our home while I was at work…” He paused and took a deep breath, obviously trying to control his hurt and anger. “I found out that Tonia was cheating on me from my daughter who asked me who the strange man was who was always coming over when I wasn’t there. I find it just a little fucking hypocritical of her to get upset that I want to introduce the girls to my stable, long-term partner when she had no problems with them meeting her fuck buddy.”

Mycroft rubbed at Greg’s lower back, trying to comfort him. He had known the general gist of what had broken up their marriage, but he’d never looked deeper into it. He’d not wanted to betray his partner’s trust and was happy to just know what he was told. “I’m sorry that I was a point of contention for you.”

“It’s not your fault, love. You have nothing to apologise for.”

“If you’d like, I could arrange to have her assassinated,” Mycroft said, completely deadpan.

Greg burst out laughing, and shook his head. “If only I’d been shagging you when I’d first found out she was cheating. I’d have definitely taken you up on that offer.”

“If you change your mind…”

“I know where to find you.” They both started giggling, and Mycroft mentally patted himself on the back for managing to make his partner smile. It felt good to not only be able to cheer him up, but to do it using a private joke between them. He’d never had a relationship that had lasted long enough, or had been serious enough to get to the point where they’d had in jokes. He treasured that he had that with Gregory, and could drop them into conversation to cause the older man mirth. His mood had definitely improved, and as they assembled the sandwiches for lunch, he started humming. Mycroft didn’t recognise the tune, but realised he was humming along with the music coming from the lounge room.

They carried the plates through to the girls, who managed to convince Greg to let them eat in front of the television and Mycroft smiled at how tightly they had him wound around their little fingers.

“Daddy, will you and Mycloft watch ponies with us?” Abby asked from her new place on the rug on the floor.

“It’s My _ croft _ , sweetie. And sure, we’ll sit and watch with you for a while.”

His smile faltered a little as Greg pulled him down next to him on the couch. “What exactly are we watching?”

“My Little Pony,” Greg murmured quietly. “It’s their favourite show. They watch it almost constantly when they’re here.”

“Daddy bought us  _ loads _ of DVDs to keep here,” Nessie told him, proudly. “We watch it with him every time we come for a visit.”

“Every time? Your father must enjoy watching it as much as you girls do.” He’d meant it as a joke but noticed how Gregory’s cheeks reddened.

“You’re not going to see much of it if you keep on yabbering on,” he chided them. The girls obediently turned back to the screen to watch, and Greg took a big bite of his sandwich. Mycroft chose not to comment, deciding to just observe. He divided his time between watching the screen, and his partner from the corner of his eye, and if he’d originally thought watching a children’s show would be monstrously boring, he found it had suddenly become much more interesting.

On the screen, brightly coloured animated characters, who could only be vaguely described as pony-like, were watching other ponies sing in a barbershop quartet type of group. He noticed his partner’s knee tapping along to the music and made a note. The ponies only seemed to sing the one song and by the third time, Mycroft definitely heard Greg singing along. Not long afterwards, he leaned in to whisper into the DI’s ear. “Does the pink one suffer from some form of manic mental illness?”

“Nah, that’s just Pinkie Pie. She’s just enthusiastic.”

The episode came to an end and the girls starting bickering over which one to watch next. “I want to watch the castle one,” Abby cried with a pout as her older sister pulled the case from her hand.

“No, we’re watching the power ponies one,” Nessie declared.

“Castle!”

“Power ponies!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“It’s not fair, you  _ always _ get to pick!”

“Enough!” Greg said loudly. “Put on Castle Maneia - it’s the better episode.”

“Hah!” Abby poked her tongue out at her sister and snatched the case back from her, turning to change the disc in the player.

The episode started and Greg started singing along to the theme song under his breath. By this point, Mycroft couldn’t help but smile at his partner. He pulled out his phone and did a quick Google search, nodding as he confirmed something. He put his phone away and settled down to watch.

Mycroft found he enjoyed it much more than he thought he would, actually laughing out loud several times. Abby asked for it to be paused so she could run to the bathroom and while she was gone, he leaned in to whisper in his partner’s ear. “How long have you been a Brony, Gregory?”

“What?” he spluttered. “I’m not one of those, don’t be stupid.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You know all the ponies’ names, you sing along to the songs, know what the episodes are called, and if I’m not mistaken, your favourite pony is the orange one. According to my internet search, that makes you a Brony.”

“And? Is there something wrong with knowing that stuff about a show my kids watch?” He had turned defensive, sitting with his arms crossed and a glare on his face.

“There’s nothing wrong with it, Gregory. I’m not insulting you - I was just asking. You seem to genuinely enjoy it and I was curious as to why you’ve never mentioned it.”

Greg bit his lip, and his cheeks were a dark red. “If a grown man admits they like a kids show, people think he’s a freak.”

“Some people may, but there seems to be a thriving community of adults who enjoy this cartoon.”

“Yeah, and they’re judged pretty harshly for it.”

“I wasn’t under the impression that you cared what other people thought.”

“I’m don’t! Well, I guess maybe...when it comes to this...it’s just not how I want...gah!” He threw up his hands in frustration. “Why do you even care?”

“Why do I care enough to ask about something my partner enjoys? Good heavens, Gregory, I know I’m not as experienced when it comes to relationships as you are but I rather thought that was Relationships 101.”

“You know what I mean.”

Abby returned and restarted the episode, and they fell quiet so as not to interrupt it. When it had finished, Greg decided that they were going to go to the park for the afternoon and he dragged three, protesting individuals out into the fresh air. He and Nessie kicked around a football while Mycroft and Abby collected different sorts of flowers, and once they had finished, he then bustled them off for dinner out at a busy family restaurant, before coming home to begin the bathing and bed routine. It was clear to Mycroft that Greg was doing his best to avoid them having any time to continue the discussion from earlier. 

Once Greg had gotten the girls to bed, they found themselves on the couch alone, and the tension radiating off his partner was palpable. Feeling that it would be best to jump into the lion’s den now than allow it to fester, Mycroft again broached the subject. “Did you know that a recent survey extrapolated from their data that there could be as many as 7 million people worldwide who identify as Bronies?”

The glare was back. “Good for them. Your point?”

“I’m merely trying to state that you’re not alone.”

“Are you trying to start a support group or stage an intervention?”

“Really, Gregory, there’s no need to be so terse.”

The older man huffed out a sigh and ran his hand through his silver hair. “Fine, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I just don’t understand why this is so important to you.”

“I just fail to see what good it does for you to deny your enjoyment of the show. Especially when it is something that you share with your daughters.” He paused. “And maybe I rather like the purple pony and would like to watch more.”

Greg’s eyes widened and he burst out laughing. “Of  _ course _ you’d like Twilight the best - she’s a super smart book worm.”

“And I can see why you like the orange pony.”

“AJ.”

“Yes, that one. She’s honest, and hardworking, and loyal - just like you.”

“I’m sure it won’t be hard to convince the girls to watch a few more episodes tomorrow.”

“And you keep the DVDs here?”

“Yes, we can watch more when they’ve gone.”

“Excellent.”

“But, Mycroft?”

“Yes?”

“If you dare mention this to anyone I work with, or John and Sherlock, I will hunt you down and I  _ will _ kill you.”

“You have my word.”

“Good.”

“Gregory?”

“Yes?”

“Can we watch more now?”

“Of course we can. I’ll start you from the beginning so you can catch up.”

“There’s a reason why I love you.”

“And don’t you forget it.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm a brony and proud of it. AJ is best pony but we can still be friends if you think otherwise ;-)  
> The episodes they watched were 'Filli Vanilli' and 'Castle Maneia'


End file.
